Animal spotted in Cuyahoga County for first time in more than a century

CLEVELAND (WJW) — Cleveland Metroparks is highlighting an exciting wildlife sighting experts say proves conservation efforts are working.

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A fisher, an animal in the same family as weasels, mink, martens and otters, according to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, was spotted on a wildlife camera in Cuyahoga County earlier this year, a Saturday Instagram post from Cleveland Metroparks stated.

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Though dozens of reported sightings have been filed in several Ohio counties, including the first in 2013, this marks the first verified sighting in Cuyahoga County and Cleveland Metroparks, according to Cleveland Metroparks Ecologist Jonathan Cepek.

“The Ohio Division of Wildlife confirmed that this sighting in Cleveland Metroparks is the first record in Cuyahoga County since the species originally disappeared in the 1800s,” the post said.

Cleveland Metroparks said the fisher is listed as a “Species of Special Interest” by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. It’s thought that the fisher was extirpated, or rendered extinct, in Ohio by the mid-1800s. Causes for their extirpation were “unregulated harvest and loss of habitat,” according to the post.

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“This is tremendously exciting, as this is yet another extirpated native Ohio mammal species to be documented for the first time in Cleveland Metroparks. The return of fishers and other extirpated species like otters, bobcats and trumpeter swans are a result of conservation efforts and emphasize the importance of our healthy forests, wetlands, waterways and natural areas in Cleveland Metroparks,” the post said.

Fishers are typically found in forested areas with large tree canopies, and use tree cavities as dens, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. The mammals prey on squirrels, mice and birds.

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